James Harden's paycut is one aspect of the NBA's investigation into the 76ers. Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports

NBA reportedly opens tampering investigation into 76ers

By Mike Santa Barbara | Last updated Jul 29, 2022 9:18 PM ET

The Philadelphia 76ers have had an eventful offseason, re-signing All-Star point-guard James Harden to a team-friendly deal while adding free-agent pieces such as veteran P.J. Tucker and Danuel House to the roster.

However, according to the NBA, the Sixers' offseason moves may not have been on the up and up.

On Friday, ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported that the NBA had opened a tampering investigation into the Sixers' contract dealings with Harden and their free-agent class.

ESPN Sources: The NBA has opened an investigation into the Philadelphia 76ers for possible tampering and early contact centered on franchise's summer free agency class of James Harden, P.J. Tucker and Danuel House. Sixers have begun cooperating with league on probe. Story soon.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 29, 2022

The NBA's investigation will reportedly zero in on the events leading up to Harden declining his $47M player option for the 2022-23 season and the trickle-down effect.

Harden declined his option on June 29, the day before the start of NBA free agency. On June 30, the Sixers agreed to deals with Tucker and House just minutes into the legal tampering period.

The timing of the Sixers' moves creates speculation that the team had a deal already worked out with Harden before he chose to opt out of his player option. Such an action, as Wojnarowski noted, would be against CBA rules.

NBA's expected to pursue circumstances surrounding Harden declining $47M option to sign a 1+1 deal that cut salary to $33M and gave team more flexibility to sign Tucker and House. Some have wondered if another deal was already in place for future -- which is against CBA rules.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 29, 2022

If the Sixers are found guilty of wrongdoing in the case of Harden's contract situation, that will also call into question the validity of their free agent deals.

The Sixers signed Tucker to a fully guaranteed three-year, $33.2M contract while inking House for two years, $8.5M.

Weeks after agreeing to the deal, Harden finally signed a two-year deal reportedly worth $68.6M on Wednesday.

Mike Santa Barbara

Mike Santa Barbara is a Wilmington, Delaware native (Yes, it's a real place) with over a decade of sports writing experience. A diehard Philadelphia sports fan, he has two dogs named after Flyers and cried real tears when the Eagles won Super Bowl LII. You can follow him on Twitter at @mike__sb

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